


It's Beginning (To Look A Lot Like Christmas)

by EvilRegalOutlaw (youfixedmybrokenwings)



Category: Boomtown (TV 2002)
Genre: Christmas oneshot, F/M, Oneshot, some Christmassy fluff for you all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 03:51:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9105472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youfixedmybrokenwings/pseuds/EvilRegalOutlaw
Summary: A fluffy Christmas Teresa/Joel oneshot written for the sole purpose of getting some of my feels out, and as an apology for the slow Secret Origin updates. (She says, writing nearly 6,000 words on something other than Secret Origin. Oops.) Merry Christmas everyone, and thank you for all your support!http://ko-fi.com/A347E4R





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in a slightly canon-divergent Season 1, where Kelly, if she exists, isn't important. Fairly fluffy, I hope, Christmas one-shot for you all. Most of this I wrote while pulling an all-nighter waiting for the Falsettos Broadway cast recording Facebook Live event at half three in the morning...yes, I am that obsessed with Stephanie J. Block. If I've mucked up the timing with Fearless and Katrina's relationship, forgive me: I haven't watched the show all the way through in a while. I had every intention of continuing this to the drinks at Fearless' but the wordcount got away from me and uni work is piling up. Merry Christmas everyone!
> 
> http://ko-fi.com/A347E4R Just to clarify, this isn't meant to be an exchange of money for fic. It's just another way of showing appreciation :)

 

_Have you got your tree up yet?_

The text came about an hour after she'd gotten in from a busy shift, and she'd just finished cooking dinner with her only plans being to crash on the sofa with a book. If it had been anyone else, she'd've ignored the message until the morning and gone to bed as soon as she'd eaten, early though it was; however she hadn't seen Joel at or outside of work in a good week and she missed their easy banter at scenes and over their favourite table at the diner. She quickly typed back,

_You know the answer to that._

She hardly ever bothered with a tree; she lived alone and no one was ever around to share her Christmas with her anyway. She usually worked overtime at Christmas, like almost everyone she knew, but she always went over to her father's nursing home to spend some time with him and that was as exciting as her Christmas had ever gotten since she'd graduated med school.

_Maybe this year that could change? The PYO round the corner's still open and I'm free, if you're willing to spend your evening hanging round with some jumped-up detective_

Teresa smiled at the jibe she'd heard from so many disgruntled cops at Joel's quick rise to detective, thought for a second then texted back.

_Just let me eat, be here in half an hour?_

_Too late._

The doorbell rang at the same time her phone buzzed, and she barked out a laugh to herself. She should've seen it coming - the number of times he'd turned up on her doorstep after a bad break up, or her father having a bad turn, and taken her out to a friendly dinner or a walk around the park to take her mind off things. Unfolding herself from the sofa she pulled the door open, an eyebrow raised and her plate still in her hand, greeting him with a, "Really?"

Joel shrugged, a fond smile lighting up his face.

"You're alone too often at Christmas. Least I could do after seven years of friendship is help you buy a Christmas tree."

"Well, I'm finishing this first. Come on in."

Conversation was easy as ever, but their fingers touched when he took her empty plate to wash it up ten minutes later, and instead of pulling her hand back she found herself lingering. Their eyes met for a beat, though it seemed like longer before she tugged her fingers out from under his and stood up to get changed. She almost forfeited a shower just to avoid the knowledge that she was naked in the bathroom while the guy she'd been crushing on for months was sitting in her living room, undoubtedly laughing at her The X Files tapes filling the space that wasn't taken up by books as he always did when he came over. She soon chose cleanliness over awkwardness as she peeled off her uniform, and a mere ten minutes later she was walking out of her room in fresh jeans, a warm jumper and wrapping her red scarf round her neck. Joel handed her her coat and shrugged his own on as she pulled her gloves, hat and warm boots on.

"Ready?"

"Yep," she nodded, picking up her keys and switching the light off.

It was a chilly night as the sky had been clear all day, and if she squinted she could see stars above the light pollution of L.A. They walked the few blocks to the pick-your-own Christmas tree place in companionable silence, occasionally pointing out a Christmas light they liked or the smell of roasting chestnuts at a roadside stand.

"Do you want some?" Joel pointed at a stand offering hot chocolate of all kinds, candy floss, candy canes and all sorts of other tooth-rotting sweets.

"Hot chocolate would be great but I'll get it."

He'd handed the stand holder a couple of bills before she'd even finished speaking, and as they walked away with matching mint hot chocolates with large dollops of cream she swatted his arm, hard.

"Stop buying stuff for me! I feel really bad about it, that you won't let me buy you anything in return." She didn't mention the shirt hiding in a corner of her wardrobe, carefully wrapped and labelled.

"Teresa, I didn't realise it made you feel that bad," he replied in a more serious tone, rubbing his arm where she'd hit him. "I just mean to treat you."

"Well, at least let me buy my own Christmas tree, ok?"

He nodded, and she softened, tilting her head to the side to watch him as she took a sip of her chocolate. His face was lit up by the streetlamps and flashing lights strung up across the road, the blue lights of an emergency vehicle rushing past, but his eyes were all she could focus on. His gaze was locked on hers and she felt an inexplicable tug towards him, one she'd been managing to resist for ages, but tonight it was increasingly difficult. First when he'd sat right next to her on the sofa, then when he'd handed her her coat, and now when he'd just bought her an outrageously large hot chocolate and Christmas spirit was rife in the air around them.

He gaze dropped to her lips, and for a moment she thought he was about to kiss her but instead his mouth stretched wide in a smile.

"You've got cream on your nose."

"Do I?" She grabbed a napkin from the stand next to them and swiped it across her mouth - to her dismay, a large smear of cream came off her upper lip. Joel was now laughing, but she knew he wasn't laughing at her and soon she started laughing too.

"God, I'm twenty-seven, you'd think I'd be able to drink hot chocolate without getting cream all over me by now."

Joel took her arm and led her away from the stand. "Come on, let's get you a Christmas tree. We still need to decorate it...you do have decorations, right?"

"Yeah, I got all my parents' when Dad went to the home. They're in boxes in the spare room still."

The sudden reminder of how close she was to losing her remaining parent made her throat tight. Joel's hand still on her elbow steadied her.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, let's get that tree."

It took all of fifteen minutes to choose a small-ish tree that would fit nicely in the corner of her living room, but it was fifteen minutes of Joel constantly picking up the biggest tree he could carry and bringing it to her with a puppy-dog smile on his face. She shooed him off only for him to return with one fractionally smaller, until she hoisted her chosen tree - small, about her own height, with full branches - onto her shoulder with one hand and marched him to the exit with the other. The guy running the place wrapped a net around the tree and took her money, then asked if they wanted help getting it into the car.

"Oh no, that's fine. We can manage." Teresa thanked him and put it back on her shoulder, earning a raised eyebrow.

"That's some strength your girlfriend's got there."

"Gotta be fit when you're running around the city saving lives all day," she heard Joel explain behind her, and felt a rush of mostly confusion when she realised he hadn't denied that they were together.

She tried to find a moment to bring it up on the way home but never got the chance, and then Joel brought out the boxes upon boxes of decorations that her parents had accumulated in twenty years of marriage and they got sucked into unearthing the round wooden base and choosing what to hang on the branches.

"These probably don't work," she sighed when she found the old Victorian lantern-shaped lights that had always hung on the tree when she was a child.

"What's the harm in trying?"

"I don't want to deprive the whole building of power?"

"They won't blow the whole thing, surely?" Joel took the plug from her and pushed it into the socket, switching it on. Teresa flinched, but the lights stayed on and even better, the lanterns mostly came on too. There were a couple broken bulbs but they were easily replaceable and for now she arranged the string of lights so the dead ones were hidden against the wall.

"Lovely," Joel said from behind her, and she suddenly wondered as she readjusted the placement whether he was still talking about the tree.

"Oh gosh, I'd forgotten about this!" She pulled a huge purple papier mache bauble from a box, decorated in little gold and silver glitter shapes and clearly made by a child. Joel laughed and grabbed the slightly faded decoration from her.

"This is definitely going on!"

" _Joel_!" She tried to grab at his arm but her limbs were shorter than his, so she just ended up on her tiptoes, pressed against his chest with her hand wrapped tightly round his wrist. They were so close she could feel his heartbeat through their sweaters. His hand found her back to steady her, and she slowly lowered herself onto her heels when she realised just how close their faces were.

A beat, and he'd entwined their hands, the bauble hanging by its loop from one of his fingers.

"Joel..." she breathed, barely audible. She was sure he could feel how her heart was hammering inside her chest at his proximity, sure he felt rather than heard the catch of her breath when he leaned in just a little closer, letting her choose whether to close the gap or reassert the boundaries of their relationship.

A sudden wave of fear washed through her and she stepped back, tearing herself away from his gaze and his hands and the promise of something more. She turned back to the tree, crossing her arms thoughtfully as Joel hung the bauble on a spare twig.

"It's missing something though."

  
"Presents, for one thing." He was standing behind her shoulder, a respectful distance away but she was even more hyper-aware of him now, and it was driving her practically insane.

"Shut up. No, it's something else."

"I think it looks great. The angel really makes it."

She glanced up at the rather tatty silver angel, bought from some market years ago on her own childish insistence, at its little wonky face staring down at her from the top of the tree and she nodded. When she turned, he was watching her, and she expected him to avert his gaze but he didn't. Anyone else would have made her wonder whether she had something on her face (as she had earlier). Joel reached up, paused, tucked a lock behind her ear.

"The rink's open until midnight, want to come with?"

"I've another shift tomorrow, I really should get to bed."

"Ok. Another time?"

"Maybe." She smiled and nodded to let him know she wasn't just blowing him off, that she'd definitely think about it. If she hadn't had a shift the next day she wouldn't have hesitated. As it was it was gone nine o'clock and she always tried to be in bed by half past before a shift, unless of course she was working double (which she anticipated a lot of in the coming few weeks).

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, hopefully."

The moment ended; his hand fell from her face and she handed him his jacket. As he almost disappeared round the corner to the stairs she called after him,

"Joel!" He turned, met her gaze. Her stomach belly-flopped. "Thank you for tonight. I had fun."

"You're welcome."

He lingered a moment longer then was off. Teresa was in bed right on time, asleep five minutes later.

It was nearing midnight when the phone rang, so of course she jumped out of bed straight away to answer it, thinking it was an emergency.

"What is it?"

"Woah, Teresa, nothing's wrong!" Fearless' voice came through the receiver, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Fighting the tiredness that was descending as the reaction to be dressed and out the door in two if needed wore off, she stretched the phone cord over to sit on the arm of the sofa as her friend continued. "I'd just forgotten what time it was, was doing overtime on paperwork." Teresa groaned in sympathy. "You doing anything the next few weeks?"

"Apart from work, I don't think so. I'll be visiting my dad at some point, I'm not sure when though. I've a few school safety talks to do." After a beat, "Why?"

"Ah, no reason. We were thinking of meeting up for Christmas drinks with you and Joel at some point. Just text me any dates you know you'll be free and we'll fix it around you."

"What about Joel?"

"His shifts are the same as mine except the day off," he reminded her with that ever-present smile in his voice. "He has to come!"

"Of course." She tried to keep her voice light but her mind skipped back to that evening and his ice-skating offer. "Any particular reason for this get-together?"

"Not really, other than it would be good to spend some time outside of work."

"It would. Listen, Fearless, I've another shift tomorrow, could I possibly call you back when my Christmas shifts come through and we can figure out a time then?"

"Absolutely. Sorry I woke you up!" The perpetual smile in his voice made the disturbance a little more bearable.

"That's ok! Goodnight."

"Night."

She couldn't help thinking the next morning as she was pulling on her uniform and wolfing down some toast, that Fearless was trying to get her and Joel together. It was true that the three of them hardly ever spent any time together outside of work: their schedules never seemed to line up for long enough to go for drinks or a meal, but he always seemed to be the one to interview the civilian witnesses, leaving Joel to ask her and Randy what they'd seen on arriving. She did remember though that it was his and Katrina's first Christmas together, so maybe they wanted to celebrate the small milestone with friends? She had no idea, and shook the thoughts to the back of her mind.

As luck would have it she bumped into Joel that morning, on the first coffee run of the day. He spotted her van across the street and held the door open for her so she could get out of the cold quicker, and they stood in line together with Teresa looking anywhere but at him, not knowing in the least what to say. She could feel his eyes on her face, and eventually the urge to look at him won over and their eyes met. Her mouth quirked up into a small smile, lips forming the word 'hey' without any sound coming out. His hand found her elbow to gently tug her out of someone's way, but didn't let go once they'd gone past.

"Thought over the skating yet?" His tone was purely conversational.

"Not yet."

"If you don't want to..."

"No! I mean, I'd love to come skating, I just don't know when I'll be working over Christmas so I was going to wait until my shifts came through before confirming anything. I gave Fearless the same answer when he called me up at ungodly hours of the morning about drinks with him and Katrina."

"He asked me too. Said you'd be there."

"He told me he'd work around my shifts so yeah, guess I will be." She sent him a playful smile to let him know she had every intention of being there, and just then they reached the front of the queue.

"I'll get these."

"Are you sure? It's Randy's as well..."

"I've got it. Thanks," he said to the barista, scooping some small change from his pocket into the tips jar and handing Teresa her coffees. They made their way outside, fighting through the morning crowd clamouring for hot drinks with the skill acquired by constant pushing through hoards of people at scenes, but with coffees instead of badges held up in the air.

Joel paused just outside, and Teresa watched him expectantly. He looked at the pavement for a beat before meeting her eyes, then said in an earnest, low voice,

"I hope you manage to find time around your shifts."

"So do I."

Suddenly, he'd leaned forward and kissed her cold cheek. It was over before she'd registered it happened, and she was left to watch him walk away and hand Fearless his coffee as he sauntered out of a store just down the road. Returning his wave of greeting she sprinted over the crossing in a small lull in the traffic and Randy leaned over to push open the door and relieve her of his coffee mug.

"We got a call, buckle up."

She duly strapped herself in, and they went to perform a full check-up on an autistic teenage girl who'd fallen out of an upstairs window (and had been incredibly lucky to have broken her fall on a bush just below it, coming out of it with only light scratches and a few blossoming bruises), all of which took an hour, tops.

"So what is up with you and Joel, anyway?" he asked when they were back in the van and she was climbing through after clearing up the back.

"Me and Joel? Ha."

"You don't fool me, Teresa. You're glowing. Besides, I saw him kiss you earlier."

"He didn't kiss me."

"I'm perfectly willing to swear in on this if you want."

"Fine. He kissed me on the cheek."

"Still kissed you."

"Randy," she started to admonish, but she was smiling. Her partner had become like a little brother to her in a way, in that she was very protective of him and he hated when she confronted dangerous men to give them a piece of her mind, and the banter they shared in the van was often the only thing keeping her sane between calls, except unbidden thoughts of (and now unexpected kisses from) Joel.

Her shifts came through the following week. Neither Joel nor Fearless had mentioned anything more about their respective invitations, and she'd had a call from the home asking when she'd be able to come and see her father, for he was forgetting more and more why she wasn't there all the time. As soon as she'd added the hours to her diary and walked to her favourite diner for a post-shift coffee and snack she took her phone out of her pocket. She hesitated, unsure whether to call Joel or Fearless first - either way she'd see Joel but did she want drinks or skating more? Drinks were safer, she hadn't been skating since she was a child, but having to watch Fearless and Katrina be their understated version of nauseatingly in love, while she found herself increasingly wishing that Joel would climb into the back of the van and kiss her senseless, would be torture, she had no doubt.

She was about to punch in Joel's number when a familiar hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hey."

"Joel! I got my shifts through, I was just about to call you."

"Mind if I join?"

"Sure!" She noticed the sit-in cup and plate in his hands, and the part of her brain that constantly ran over their evening of tree decorating thought that maybe he'd spotted her through the window and decided to stay with her; the part of her that had told her she wasn't good enough practically her whole life screamed that it was a coincidence.

"When did you want to go skating?" she asked. "Daytime or evening?"

"I'd prefer evening, it's generally quieter because kids are in bed."

"Ok then." She took a bite of her pastry; Joel shifted closer to see where she was indicating in her diary.

"Next Friday evening ok?" she asked.

"Perfect."

"When did Fearless want those drinks?"

"No idea, he hasn't mentioned it to me since."

"Nor to me. Strange."

"Call him now, then he can deal with the both of us at once."

She did so, holding the phone between them - Fearless seemed absolutely tickled that they were sitting together at the diner but they soon had a date in the diary for drinks too, a few days after she and Joel had agreed on skating. Whether that was a good thing or not, she was yet to decide.

They conversed until they'd finished their coffees, then Teresa looked at her watch.

"I've a couple school talks coming up which I need to prepare for, I should probably go plan them."

"Need some help?"

"Have you ever done a school talk?"

"No."

"Ok then. I should probably also go see Dad, he's starting to space out more often and I'm worried."

"I'm sorry, Teresa."

"It's ok. It was bound to happen eventually. I just didn't think it would be so soon..." She trailed off as her throat closed up. Joel squeezed her shoulder and she leaned into him, taking comfort in his silence.

"I really gotta go now if I'm going to see Dad before they put him to bed."

"I'll let you go then. See you next Friday, if not before."

"I'm looking forward to it," she smiled.

As the next week and a bit passed, Teresa grew more and more nervous about her impending date. At least, she supposed it was a date, they hadn't really set the boundaries for it, but their almost-kiss the other night had had her thinking it was definitely a date. She hadn't been on one she was actually invested in in ages, let alone a first date. Though it was only ice skating, she was terrified of making a fool of herself. Or rather, because it was ice skating, she was terrified of making a fool of herself. Worry for her ailing father also took up much of her remaining energy, and she visited almost every time she had a few hours off. His memory was going and it killed her to see it, but the nurses were doing everything they could to make him comfortable and she had to accept that. She of all people knew how difficult it could be to take care of someone for whom it was only a matter of time.

She saw him almost every day until the Tuesday before, and he'd acted fairly normal around her. She thought only she noticed him standing just a little closer than usual, his gaze lingering on her back a fraction longer as she walked away, but once she caught Fearless hiding a smile behind his notepad and she could just tell that the man had a bet going with someone. She caught his eye, rolled her own and got on with her work, trying not to let it bother her. So what if he knew? The two men were close as brothers, it was rare for police partners not to be. If people were going to get caught up and risk their money on a relationship that might not even work out - please, God, let it work out, she silently prayed - that wasn't her problem.

Friday came around in due course, and Teresa's shift finished at midday so she had plenty of time to sort herself out. Joel had texted her in the morning,

Pick you up at six-thirty?

so once she'd got home she had five and a half hours to choose clothing warm enough for skating but pretty enough that she looked like she'd made an effort. This would be the perfect time for a fashion-savvy roommate to appear out of thin air, she thought as she stared at her wardrobe, hair wrapped in a towel, another tied around her torso.

When Joel rang the bell at bang on six-thirty, she'd put on long thermals under her jeans and three layers under her favourite purple jumper, and just a bit of makeup. Her hat and scarf were an obvious must but she'd always liked how the red looked against her hair, so she wasn't bothered about that. She'd even managed to find a nice pair of fluffy socks for when they changed into skating boots.

"Wow."

"Joel..."

"You look gorgeous," he complimented her, stepping forward to kiss her on the cheek. This time she was more prepared so was able to let him instead of standing there like a perplexed statue, though the sentiment still made her blush under the foundation.

"I'm wearing jeans, and you're about to watch me make a spectacle of myself on the rink."

"Hey. At least you'll look good while doing it."

She laughed, forgetting worries like tomorrow's last-minute shift and her father's ill health as he offered her his arm to walk to the ice rink.

"I thought we'd get dinner first, if you don't mind a hot dog. We've got some time before our slot."

"Sounds perfect."

When it came to getting the boots on, she struggled to do them up tight enough so she wouldn't feel like she was all over the place walking on the rubber mats they'd laid down. Walking itself was a challenge, and she slipped almost the moment she set foot on the rink. Gripping the wall round the edge tightly she tried an experimental step and found herself being caught by Joel, a small smile on his face.

"Stop laughing! Why did I ever agree to this?"

"Teresa. You save lives for a living, and you survive Randy's driving to do it."

"Exactly. I should be keeping myself out of harm's way, making sure I don't end up..." She started laughing along with Joel, her own incompetence suddenly hilarious at seven o'clock on a Friday night, when most of her age group were probably out partying.

"Come on, I'll hold your hand. Hold onto the rail and we'll see if we can do a lap without either of us ending up on our backsides."

With one hand on the rail and the other held firmly in Joel's, she felt a little more secure in taking a step. Joel, who was obviously experienced in this, at least enough to feel confident moving on his own, coached her through the basic sliding technique and soon she'd completed a lap. The second lap saw her hand starting to hover above the rail for seconds at a time; the fourth she only grabbed it once, and the fifth she completed without holding the rail for a moment. She still gripped Joel's hand like a lifeline but at least by that point she felt more like she was out on a winter date.

When she'd done three consecutive laps without holding the rail (and also without noticing that he was slowly bringing her away from the edge) he stopped them right in the centre of the rink, where only one other girl was spiralling away in her tiny skirt, clearly as at home on the ice as Teresa was in an ambulance.

"Ok?"

She nodded a "yeah" before she realised just how far away from the edge they were.

"Don't look at the floor, or the edge. Look at me. I've got you, Teresa." His arm circled her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. "I've got you," he whispered again, his breath ghosting over her face.

Lost in their own little world, she really thought he might kiss her this time. Maybe he thought it would be taking advantage of her lack of skill on the ice, maybe he wanted their first kiss to be away from prying eyes, but either way he just rested his forehead against hers, running cold fingertips over equally cool cheekbones, tracing careless patterns into her skin. The affection in his gaze was almost overpowering; at the same time, she couldn't look away.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

His hand moved from her back to her elbow, then skated down her arm to take her free hand in his. Putting some space between them he began to skate backwards, pulling her with him, and she was forced to start moving in order to stay upright.

"Longer strokes," he advised; she tried to slow down her feet but wobbled, her chest constricting in panic, her arms going to whirl in circles in an attempt to keep her balance. Joel's hands tightened on hers, stilling her arms and steadying her. "OK?"

Teresa nodded, calming her breathing down and in a few moments she felt confident enough to strike out again. It was easier this time; her feet seemed to glide across the ice, and soon she was able to look where she was going instead of at the toes of her skates.

"We're about to hit the crowd," she warned, and Joel expertly slid round so they were following the traffic again.

"You're in charge of steering now," he winked.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Could be."

Teresa studied him for a moment then struck out with more confidence than she felt. Soon she was able to turn them fairly smoothly round the corners and keep them from crashing into the over-confident boys who spent more time on their backsides than actually skating, it seemed.

The hour's session went far too quickly, and she almost fell as she stepped cautiously off the ice. Her shoes felt weird on her feet after so long on skates.

"Where would you like to go now?"

"I know we've eaten but I'm hungry again."

"Wander round for a bit then the diner?"

"Sounds perfect."

He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and guided her through the throngs of people arriving for the next session, then they simply wandered the park the rink had been set up in. They compared favourite Christmas lights, they smiled at the line of excited children outside Santa's grotto despite the relatively late hour. They even got roasted chestnuts between them, Teresa insisting on paying for them.

"You got the skating, I'll get these."

Joel pouted, but acceded. As they munched on their chestnuts Joel spotted a huge tree down the path, tucked in a corner where about five paths converged.

"Bet you the dinner check we don't see a tree as tall as that one tonight," he challenged.

"Bet you a kiss we do."

Joel fell silent, and Teresa began to think she'd blown the entire thing as the silence stretched on and the gaiety continued around them, unheard by the couple. True, it was only their first date, but they'd had two almost moments since he'd asked her out, surely that had to mean something?

"Joel?"

"Sorry, I was just taken by surprise, is all. Do you kiss every guy on the first date?"

"Is that jealousy I hear, Detective?" she teased. "And no, I don't. I haven't even been on a first date in years."

"I know. I just don't want to rush this."

Then why pull me into the centre of a busy rink and hold me so close everyone but you thinks we're about to start necking?

"We've known each other seven years now, I'd say that makes this decidedly not rushed," she said instead, and Joel grinned fondly. He tossed the empty chestnut bag in the bin and took her hand.

"So if that's the biggest tree we see all night, I'm getting dinner, and if it's not I get to kiss you?" Teresa clarified after a few moments.

"Yep."

"Challenge accepted."

Every single tree in the damned park seemed to be just a foot or so too shorter than the first one, according to the signs at their bases, and Teresa was getting slightly annoyed. Not that she wasn't happy to pay for dinner, but she wanted to kiss Joel more and she had a feeling he'd keep on teasing her if she did lose tonight.

It was nearing ten pm when she spotted an incredibly large tree near the centre of the park. "How about that one?"

There was no sign at the base, but as they loitered, trying to find someone who knew how tall it was, she was confident that it was taller than the first. Gut feeling had always served her well, and it was her gut that was telling her she was likely to be getting free dinner later.

Finally a stallholder turned to be one of the helpers who'd strung the lights up, and told them the exact measurement in feet and inches of the tree while simultaneously preparing two different pancakes.

"It's the tallest tree in the park," he told them proudly, and if it weren't so crowded Teresa would have punched the air in victory.

"Looks like you win." Joel had hold of her elbow and was trying to drag her out of the way of the mass of people.

"Thank you!" she called to the stallholder as he tugged her against the flow to a quieter corner right under the tree.

"It's quite impressive, isn't it?" she marvelled at the sheer size and number of lights on the foliage, realising a bit too late that she had a bet to collect. Now that the moment was here, she was incredibly nervous. She swallowed, her mouth dry, and a blush crept up her neck and cheeks at the thought of all these people watching. Fearless or Randy could be here, she realised. Then they'd never hear the end of it.

"Teresa..." Looking up at the sound of his voice, she was filled with a sudden courage that had her resting her gloved hands on his shoulders and pressing her lips hesitantly to his. They stood there for a moment, neither really sure what to do with their hands, then their brains caught up and his arms circled her waist and they melted into each other. Joel tucked her in close, supporting her weight so she didn't have to hurt her toes in reaching his height, and one hand moved to cup his cheek.

Only when the need for breath became apparent did they break apart, Joel's forehead coming to rest on hers, both grinning like idiots.

"Why did we wait so long to do that?" he whispered, and she laughed aloud.

"I've no idea," she replied and kissed him again, briefly.

"Come on, the diner closes soon, if you're still hungry."

"Absolutely! All that tree-hunting's made me ravenous." Arm in arm, they started making their way towards one of the park exits, cheek-splitting smiles on both their faces. Every so often, they would duck out of the flow of people to make out; they only had an hour to order and eat before the diner closed (thank goodness for Christmas hours, Joel had joked as they were ushered out at midnight), but it was, in their minds, totally worth it.


End file.
